CIL Dialogues is the re-imagination of the existing blog of the Centre for International Law (CIL) of the National University of Singapore (NUS). The editorial team’s approach to CIL Dialogues reflects two shared commitments. First, we share a generalist perspective of international law, viewed as raising shared foundational questions across specialised fields, institutions, regions, and inquiries. Secondly, we are appreciative that CIL Dialogues is not based in (the virtual space of), or associated with institutions in the ‘Western European and Others States Group’. The blog will therefore be interested in international law broadly conceived and seek to be attentive to regional perspectives to questions of universal and general relevance, particularly relating to Asia Pacific, as well as the views and voices that may have been traditionally excluded. More...
Featured Symposium ...
Breaking the impasse: towards a new convention to prevent and punish Crimes against humanity. by Pablo Arrocha Olabuenaga and Natalia Jiménez Alegría Published on 21 April 2025 Photo Credit: UN Photo/Manuel Elías Background The mandate on the progressive development and codification contained in article 13 of the UN Charter has historically been a priority for …
Duterte in the Hague tests Philippine engagement with international criminal law by Ruby Rosselle L. Tugade Published on 11 April 2025 The dramatic circumstances surrounding Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest and extradition to the Hague last month for alleged crimes against humanity generated various discussions on his arrest’s propriety under the legal regime of the International Criminal …
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The Prospect of a Fragmented Legal Regime of Mining of Seabed Mineral Resources in the Exclusive Economic Zone By Digvijay Rewatkar Published on 7 April 2025 Introduction As the politics of climate change oscillates between its striking effects and denialism, the global energy, technological industry and minerals supply chains have been under a shift. For …
Sudan v. United Arab Emirates: Short-lived but Meaningful? By Juliette McIntyre Published on 4 April 2025 Introduction Since 2013, Sudan has faced a catastrophic civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (‘RSF’). In 2024, the RSF was accused of committing genocide in respect of its attacks against the Masalit …
Sudan v. United Arab Emirates: Short-lived but Meaningful? Read More »
May the United States Unilaterally Conduct or Regulate Activities in the Area According to International Law? By Eduardo Cavalcanti de Mello Filho Published on 4 April 2025 https://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/53593818135/in/photostream/ On 27 March 2025, The Metals Company (TMC), a Canadian company, announced that its US subsidiary will apply for exploitation permits under the US 1980 Deep Seabed …
International Fisheries as the ‘Whale in the Room’ at the BBNJ Negotiations By Dr Ethan Beringen Published on 11 March 2025 The successful conclusion of the negotiations for the new treaty on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ) was a significant achievement in international law making. This is especially …
International Fisheries as the ‘Whale in the Room’ at the BBNJ Negotiations Read More »
The United Nations General Assembly advances towards the negotiation of a Convention on the Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters By Lucía Solano Legal adviser at the Permanent Mission of Colombia to the UN Published on 10 March 2025 In what constituted a historic moment for the codification and progressive development of international …
Non-recognition of Unconstitutional Changes of Government: From African Union to ASEAN By Dr Trung Q.T. Nguyen Published on 2 March 2025 In the pre-dawn hours of 1 February 2021, military vehicles rolled into Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw. Senior civilian leaders were detained, and by sunrise, the Tatmadaw had declared a state of emergency, effectively terminating the …
Non-recognition of Unconstitutional Changes of Government: From African Union to ASEAN Read More »
Timor-Leste’s Upcoming Membership to ASEAN: Clearer Guidance Needed By Johan Pahlepi Published on 2 March 2025 Image credit: Association of Southeast Asian Nations (orthographic projection). The map has been created with the Generic Mapping Tools: https://www.generic-mapping-tools.org/ using one or more of these public-domain datasets for the relief. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons …
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A New Beginning for International Benefit-Sharing? Harmonising and Complying with Rules on Digital Sequence Information by Adam Strobeyko Published on 23 February 2025 Opening Plenary of the HL Segment – Peace with Nature at COP16. The 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) will convene in …
Massive Pollution, States’ Positive Obligations and Remedies Critical Appraisal of the European Court of Human Rights’ Cannavacciuolo et al. v. Italy Judgment By Hélène Tigroudja Published on 23 February 2025 In a very detailed judgment of almost 200 pages and more than 500 paragraphs, a Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (the ‘Court’) …
DeepSeek’s AI Disruption: Implications for Global Climate Policy on Digital Decarbonisation, Energy Transitions and International Law by Jon Truby Published on 8 February 2025 Background The US President’s announcement of flagship $500 billion Stargate AI project with OpenAI was trumped a day later by a little-known Chinese start-up, DeepSeek, which shocked the tech world and …
The Azerbaijan–Armenia Lawfare Goes Ahead: Contrasting the Twin Judgements on Preliminary Objections within the Constellation of Inter-State Legal Proceedings by Kei Nakajima (Associate Professor of International Law, University of Tokyo) Published on 21 January 2025 On 12 November 2024, the International Court of Justice (‘the Court’) delivered two judgments on preliminary objections raised by Armenia …
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights’ Expansion of Jus Cogens and the Missing Piece of the Puzzle: Aggravated State Responsibility by Diego Enrique Uribe Bustamante (Adjunct Professor, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México) Last 18 November 2024, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR or ‘the Court’) published a landmark decision in the case of Pueblos …
Just Transitions and the UN Secretary-General’s Panel Critical Energy Transition Minerals Recommendations on “Resourcing The Energy Transition Principles to Guide Critical Energy Transition Minerals Towards Equity and Justice” by Railla Puno (Associate Lead, Climate Change Law and Policy, CIL) and Danielle Yeow (Lead, Climate Change Law and Policy, CIL) With acknowledgements and thanks to Rayson …
Addressing the Criticisms against the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime by Nguyen Thanh Trung Cybercrime is a crisis brought about in the digital age. A recent report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (‘UNODC’) estimates financial losses between US$18 billion and US$37 billion from cyber scams targeting victims in East and Southeast …
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Key contentions at the Hearings on the ICJ Advisory Opinion on climate change By Danilo B. Garrido Alves and Efstathios-Effraim Giannidakis Published on 3 January 2025 Between 3 and 13 December, over 100 States and international organisations appeared before the International Court of Justice (some of which—such as Barbados, Sierra Leone, the Cook Islands, Micronesia, …
Key contentions at the Hearings on the ICJ Advisory Opinion on climate change Read More »
Symposium: 125 years of the Permanent Court of Arbitration: A Retrospective and exploration of New Frontiers The distinctive role of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in shaping the future of international dispute resolution by Celine Lange Published on 12 December 2024 Panellists at the Singapore Commemorative Event on the 125th anniversary of the Permanent Court of …
Symposium: 125 years of the Permanent Court of Arbitration: A Retrospective and exploration of New Frontiers A PCA for the Next Century by Wenlan Yang Published on 12 December 2024 The third panel of the commemorative event held in Singapore on 25 July 2024 for the 125th anniversary of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) featured …
Symposium: 125 years of the Permanent Court of Arbitration: A Retrospective and exploration of New Frontiers Innovations in Dispute Resolution: the PCA and Singapore on the Cutting Edge by Daniel Pakpahan Published on 12 December 2024 The second panel of the commemorative event held in Singapore on 25 July 2024 for the 125th anniversary of the …
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Symposium: 125 years of the Permanent Court of Arbitration: A Retrospective and exploration of New Frontiers The Permanent Court of Arbitration through the Ages by Liyuan Feng Published on 12 December 2024 In 2024, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) celebrates 125 years of existence. The PCA was established by the Convention for the Pacific …
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The ICC arrest warrants in the Palestine Situation: double standards, limitations and opportunities By Alessandra Spadaro Published on 11 December 2024 On 21 November 2024, Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued the first arrest warrants for crimes committed in the Situation in the State of Palestine. The warrants of arrest for …
Milieudefensie et al. v. Shell: Analysis and Commentary of the Hague Court of Appeal’s Decision By Jolene Lin Published on 18 November 2024 On 12 November 2024, the Hague Court of Appeal handed down its much-anticipated decision in Milieudefensie et al. v. Shell (commonly referred to as the ‘Shell climate case’). The case revolves around …
Benefit v Consent: CJEU’s Front Polisario II Judgment and the Law of Self-Determination By Andrea Maria Pelliconi and Jed Odermatt Published on 15 November 2024 On 4 October 2024, the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) found that fisheries and trade agreements concluded between the European Union (EU) and …
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Symposium | Building Resilience: Advancing Local R&D and Production of Health Products in the WHO Pandemic Agreement Decoding Technology Transfer in the Proposed WHO Pandemic Accord By Kashish Aneja Published on 14 November 2024 Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic exposed critical weaknesses in global preparedness, particularly in the equitable access and distribution of health technologies like diagnostics, …
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Symposium | Building Resilience: Advancing Local R&D and Production of Health Products in the WHO Pandemic Agreement Navigating the Tensions Between Self-Reliance and Global Cooperation in Pandemic Preparedness By Ronald Eberhard Tundang Published on 13 November 2024 Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally altered the global landscape of pharmaceutical supply chains, exposing critical vulnerabilities and driving …
Symposium | Building Resilience: Advancing Local R&D and Production of Health Products in the WHO Pandemic Agreement The Pandemic Treaty – A Role for Local Capacity in Addressing Vaccine Inequity and Lack of Access? By Nicole D. Foster Published on 12 November 2024 The Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Ghebreyesus’ August 14 …
Symposium | Building Resilience: Advancing Local R&D and Production of Health Products in the WHO Pandemic Agreement Research and Development in the Pandemic Agreement: Self-Limiting Treatymaking By Pedro A. Villarreal Published on 11 November 2024 The rapidness with which new vaccines were developed against COVID-19 is often touted as a success story of scientific discovery. What …
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Symposium | Building Resilience: Advancing Local R&D and Production of Health Products in the WHO Pandemic Agreement Building Resilience: Advancing Local R&D and Production of Health Products in the WHO Pandemic Agreement Introduction to the Symposium By Ayelet Berman Published on 11 November 2024 “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; …
Symposium: High Politics at the International Court of Justice The politics of facts before the International Court of Justice By Ana Luísa Bernardino Published on 23 October 2024 There was a time in the history of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), in the years immediately following its establishment and, most acutely, in the aftermath …
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Symposium: High Politics at the International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice’s intrinsic powers to decide all cases brought before it By Ambassador Carlos Argüello Published on 22 October 2024 This symposium invites us to reflect on the proliferation of cases concerning “high politics” adjudicated at the International Court of Justice (ICJ or …
Symposium: High Politics at the International Court of Justice The Power of the World Court Unleashed: The Chagos Archipelago Advisory Opinion and Decolonisation By Trung Nguyen Published on 21 October 2024 British colonialism marked a dark page in humankind’s history and it still haunts us today like the ghost of Hamlet’s father. The story of …
Symposium: High Politics at the International Court of Justice The Rohingya Crisis at the ICJ: Caught between Legal Technicalities and Limits of the Court By Emraan Azad Assistant Professor in Law, Bangladesh University of Professionals Published on 18 October 2024 The crisis in relation to the protection of the Rohingya has two dimensions: one is …
Symposium: High Politics at the International Court of Justice High Politics and the International Court of Justice By Gleider Hernández Published on 17 October 2024 The notion of ‘high politics’ in international adjudication is only paradoxical if one insists strictly on a conceptual separation between law and politics. Though the point of law and legal …
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Symposium: High Politics at the International Court of Justice Mega-Political Cases before the ICJ: Transforming a Hegemonic into a Negotiated Order? By Heike Krieger Published on 16 October 2024 In recent years, states have increasingly turned to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to adjudicate what one may describe as ‘mega-political’ cases. Such cases concern …
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Symposium: High Politics at the International Court of Justice ‘High Politics’ at the International Court of Justice By Ntina Tzouvala Published on 16 October 2024 It is a long-held position of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that it is not precluded from pronouncing on the legal dimensions of a question simply because said question …
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Combating Biopiracy by Fostering Coordination across the Environment, Intellectual Property and Trade Regimes By Pallavi Arora Published on 5 August 2024 The advent of biotechnology has raised concerns about biopiracy: the utilization of biological resources and traditional knowledge without permission from or compensation to the local communities who are the rightful custodians of these resources …
Symposium: Gravity at the International Criminal Court Gravity at the International Criminal Court: A Response By Priya Urs Published on 8 August 2024 I am grateful to Meg deGuzman, Patryk Labuda and Martha Bradley for generously giving their time to reflect on Gravity at the International Criminal Court. Each of them raises a variety of …
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Symposium: Gravity at the International Criminal Court Gravity at the International Criminal Court: Admissibility and Prosecutorial Discretion by Priya Urs: A significant contribution offering a refreshing guidance towards the assessment of the gravity criterion to insure prosecutorial consistency By Martha M Bradley Published on 8 August 2024 Gravity at the International Criminal Court: Admissibility and …
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Symposium: Gravity at the International Criminal Court Law versus Policy? Exploring the Meaning of Gravity before the International Criminal Court By Patryk I. Labuda Published on 7 August 2024 Priya Urs’ new book is an important contribution to the literature on the International Criminal Court (ICC or Court). In under two hundred pages, she manages …
Symposium: Gravity at the International Criminal Court Faith in Gravity By Margaret M. deGuzman Published on 6 August 2024 The concept of gravity—that some crimes are especially serious—is at the heart of the International Criminal Court (ICC or Court) regime. Among other things, it helps to determine which situations and cases the ICC investigates and …
Symposium: Gravity at the International Criminal Court Gravity at the International Criminal Court: An Introduction By Priya Urs Published on 6 August 2024 I began thinking about the selectivity of the investigation and prosecution of international crimes in 2014, when I worked with the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission to strengthen its role in monitoring …
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Missed opportunities: WIPO Treaty falls short of protecting Traditional Knowledge By Kriti Sharma Published on 15 July 2024 On May 24, 2024, twenty five years of negotiations culminated in the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) Diplomatic Conference adopting its first treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and associated Traditional Knowledge (“the treaty”). Developed as a …
Missed opportunities: WIPO Treaty falls short of protecting Traditional Knowledge Read More »
Legality of Cyber Operations in the Israel-Hezbollah War By Mr Hussein Badreddine Published on 23 May 2024 In the aftermath of the 7 October 2023 attack conducted by Hamas and other Palestinian factions, Israel claimed the right of self-defence and began a widespread operation in the Gaza strip. On 8 October 2023, Hezbollah launched rockets …
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Strengthening Global Biosecurity and Biosafety Efforts: The Role of the BWC National Implementation Database in Informing and Guiding National Policies By Dr. Jaroslav Krasny Published on 24 April 2024 The Biological Weapons Convention National Implementation Database (“BWC Database”), developed collaboratively by the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) and the Verification Research, Training and …
Environmental Provisions in ASEAN’s Investment Agreements: The Need to Strengthen Member States’ Right to Regulate Environmental Issues By Kim Anh Dao Published on 4 April 2024 The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) holds a significant position in the international investment rule-making arena. Alongside treaties concluded by its individual members, ASEAN, as a unified entity, …
The 2023 IMO Assembly Resolution enables States to challenge the ‘Dark Fleet’ that threatens the marine environment By Robert Beckman, Trung Nguyen and Joel Ong Jie Hao Published on 18 March 2024 Disclaimer: This blog post is supported by the MPA-CIL Oceans Governance Research Programme funded by the Singapore Maritime Institute (SMI-2023-MA-03). At its thirty-third …
Artificial Intelligence and Article 33.4 VCLT By Tarcisio Gazzini Published on 14 March 2024 Introduction Artificial intelligence (AI) is set to radically change legal education and the legal profession. Suffice it to mention the administration of justice through machines. This comment focuses on a much more specific issue, namely the interpretation of multilingual treaties. Article …
Does breaching UNCLOS invoke the right of self-defence? By Shani Friedman Published on 19 February 2024 Introduction Since October 2023, as part of the Israeli-Hamas war following the October 7 massacre in Israel, the Houthis – an Iranian-backed Yemeni terrorist group – attacked commercial ships in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea in …
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China’s engagement with the ITLOS climate change advisory proceedings and its strategic formalism in international law By Ryan Martínez Mitchell Published on 6 February 2024 Several months ago, Beijing decided to take a stand against the expansion of advisory opinion jurisdiction to the full International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), as well …
Israel, South Africa and the Power of Genocide By Yusra Suedi Published on 23 January 2024 The International Court of Justice (ICJ, the Court) has increasingly been the theatre for accusations of the crime of genocide. The latest instalment is South Africa’s institution of proceedings against Israel for committing genocide in the Gaza Strip. Genocide …
Symposium: The Second World War in Asia: Justice Efforts, War Memory, and Reparations Tokyo Women’s Tribunal – Voices of the Women Working Behind the Scenes (Part Two) Interviews of Indai Sajor, Aurora De Dios, and Susan Macabuag By Aishwarya Arumugham and Lee Jia Ying Published on 19 January 2024 This is part 2 of a two-part blog …
Tokyo Women’s Tribunal – Voices of the Women Working Behind the Scenes (Part Two) Read More »
Symposium: The Second World War in Asia: Justice Efforts, War Memory, and Reparations Tokyo Women’s Tribunal – Voices of the Women Working Behind the Scenes (Part One) Interviews of Indai Sajor, Aurora De Dios, and Susan Macabuag By Aishwarya Arumugham and Lee Jia Ying Published on 19 January 2024 The Tokyo Women’s Tribunal (TWT) was a peoples’ …
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Falepili Union Treaty, statehood and protection of persons in light of sea-level rise: state practice of preserving the status quo? By Rashmi Raman and Daniel Pakpahan Published on 8 January 2024 The Falepili Union Treaty of 9 November 2023 is making waves across reports that comment on the intriguing and possibly trailblazing agreement on climate …